Day 10: Trip to Côte d’Or

We departed from our hostel early this morning and left for the Côte d’Or department. This is a beautiful area with a green hilly landscape. This department also contains some of the greatest vineyards in Burgundy, producing luxury Grand Cru wines. Some of the most valuable real estate in France lies within this area.

After driving past the vineyards, we arrived at the Gaugry cheese dairy. Despite being a family firm, this dairy has become a major producer of Burgundy cheeses. They make several well-known cows milk cheeses like Epoisses and Brilliat-Savarin. We got to try a range of their cheeses at different maturities, and a Burgundy pinot noir wine from 2012. From left to right, we tried brilliat-savarin, soumaintrain, plasir au chablis, chambertin, and epoisses. It was all delicious!

We then head over to the Château du Clos Vougeot, a high-end vineyard with tons of land in the town of Vougeot. The winery was established in the 12th century, and since then has become one of the most prestigious in France, owned by 81 growers. From the winery, there are grape vines as far as the eye can see. The grapes in this vineyard are classified as Grand Cru, which is the highest designation of quality a Burgundy vineyard can receive. It’s beautiful seeing so much green in one place, and knowing how valuable each vine is really adds to the experience. In addition to this, parts of this winery serve as a historic monument.

After touring the vineyards and winery, we set out to the city if Dijon. This is easily the prettiest city i’ve ever been to. Ornate Gothic and Romanesque architecture can be seen throughout the whole city. The area is rich with historical buildings, while simultaneously blending in modern shopping centers, quaint cafés, and fancy restaurants. At the center of the the town square is the Place de la Liberation, a huge palace that originally served to demonstrate the wealth Dijon’s lawmakers. It is now used for local administration, but it is still a gorgeous building nonetheless

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